on this tuesday night, under the radar. the feds scrambling to answer how that postal worker landed on the capitol lawn flying 50 miles without being detected exposing a major threat. home grown terror the american charged tonight. investigators say he went to syria to train with isis then came home. the frantic call for help from the airport worker trapped in midair inside the cargo hold, pleading with a 911 operator from his cell phone. and snoring risk. the new warning tonight about sleep apnea and snoring, the potential connection to memory loss and dementia, and what you . "nightly news" begins right now. from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc

nightly news." reporting tonight, lester holt. good evening. that bizarre aerial stunt in washington, d.c. is still rattling nerves today with the question what if on a lo. we're talking about that copter that flew undetected to the u.s. capitol yesterday through some of the it was piloted by a florida mailman with a political message but who, as far as we know, had no intent to do harm. but what if someone else was at the controls, someone with deadly intent? tonight we're not the only ones asking, and some of the answers we're getting aren't totally reassuring. our national t peter alexander is on the . >> reporter: first, the stunt, now the scrutiny. >> this is not good, people. >> reporter: this unprecedented act of civil disobedience is today refocusing new attention on a longstanding security vulnerability, the threat posed by low-flying lightweight aircraft. secretary of homeland security jeh johnson.

>> this individual apparently literally flew in under the radar, literally. >> reporter: federal authorities today charged 61-y florida mailman doug hughes with violating restricted air space and operating an unregistered aircraft. the maximum penalty one and three years each. a judge released hughes and ordered him to stay out washington until a hearing next month. hughes told the "tampa bay times" last year he wanted to deliver a message to washing to end big money in poli >> i'd rather die in the flight than live to be 80 years old and see this country fall. >> reporter: instead his flight sparked a discussion about security. >> how did it happen? how did th get through? why weren't there alarm bells that w off? why wasn't it intercepted? >> reporter: this was basically the gyrocopter's flight path as it rounded the washington monument heading straight down the national mall for the capitol bu but had he taken a left turn, the pilot would have had a straight shot for the white house. the nation's capital is teeming with law

enforcement, secret service, capitol police, park police. but none stopped what hughes once described as a flying bicycle. who should b charge of that restricted air space ultimately? >> we've got a well-coordinated federal reseo dealin with issues of those who penetrate the restricted air >> reporter: secret service, military, capitol police. >> a well-coordinated . >> reporter: the u.s. no longer flies fighter jets 24/7 over d.c. like after 9/11. so a senior military official tells nbc's jim miklaszewski even if jets were already in the air, they would have been ineffective against such a small, slow-flying target. ben montgomery drove to washington to watch. but the secret service says the paper never alerted >> that's not my job to pull the plug on somebody doing something like this. >> reporter: today the white house even weighed in. press secretary josh earnest saying this episode has prompted security teams to re-evaluate their security measures throughout the nation's capital.

lester? >> all right, peter we've reported a lot of stories lately about americans allegedly trying to make their way to syria to join isis but tonight an ohio man is accused of not only going there and seefring terrorist training but also coming back to the states with plans to carry out an attack . correspondent pete williams has details. >> reporter: american officials say today's charges reflect a growing fear people in the u.s. going to syria, getting training, then coming back as committed terrorists. prosecutors today accused a 23-year-old somali-born man from . abdirahman sheik mohamud for getting to istanbul and making his way into syria. for two months they say they got trainin in weapons, explosives and hand-to-hand combat following his brother who had gone there in 2013 to join al qaeda in syria and was killed in a battle

court documents say when he returned to his family's house in columbus h others saying he wanted to target the military, po anyone in uniony form and wanted to quote, kill three or four american sol his arrest is a first since isis began recruiting. >> this is the first case of an ameri traveling, you know, overseas to syria, training with terrorist groups there, then returning home to be arrested and indicted. >> reporter: he was arrested on state charges in february and had been under surveillance months. tracing americans who have been to syria is an urgent priority for the fbi, as attorney general eric holder told us recently. >> we probably hundreds under some kind of surveillance. >> reporter: authorities say tonight that mohamud's pro-jihadi postings on facebook helped attract the attention . his lawyer said he not guilty at a court appearance tomorrow and that he was caring for his mother when he was arrested. lester? now to that dramatic 911 call for

help and the most unusual. for the first time we're hearing that airport worker trapped in the dar cargo hold of alaska airlines plane in midair. the worker realizing where he is and pleading with a 911 operator trying to grasp exactly what it is that he is trying to tell her. our national correspondent miguel almaguer reports. >> reporter: the alaska airlines flight was departing seattl bound for los angeles when the 911 call came in from the plane's cargo hold. >> hello. i'm trapped in this plane. i called my job, but i'm in this >> you're where? >> i'm inside the plane. i feel like it's up moving in the air. flight 448. can you please have somebody stop it? >> reporter: the caller, an employee at menzies aviation who loads bags on to the plane, told authoritie trapped with a flight on the move, dispatchers are

confused. >> where are you in a plane at? >> i'm inside alaska airlines plane flight 448. >> are you at th airport? >> i'm not in the airport. i feel like it's moved because i feel like >> reporter: the emergency call lasts 48 seconds, then suddenly drops off. >> are you by yourself or are you with somebody? >> reporter: with the plane climbing at 5,000 feet, passengers hear banging and a scream from below their feet. >> and he was like help, help. we're like what? >> reporter: airborne for 14 minutes, the trapped man was near the nose where it's pressurized and temperature controlled. the pilot made an emergency landing. the baggage employee able to walk off the plane. with the airlines still investigating, we were able to speak to that trapped man who called 911 over the phone this afternoon. he tells us he's in good health, back on the job and he says late tonight he's still feeling a bit tired. lester?

>> miguel almaguer, thank you. tens of millions of americans on the aler of sev including tornadoes. alerts up alread tonight. meteorologist dy dryer is here with us. what areas concern you ? >> right now the southern plains where we're seei our activity. we have a tornado watch in red here, but we also have several severe thunderstorm watches popping up in yellow. the biggest threat as we go through tonight besides an isolated tornado or two, damaging wind gusts up near 65 miles per hour. also some very large hail. tomorrow the threat is going to shift a little furth southern tex. you can' tornado, but we're still looking main threat as being of large hail and damaging wind gusts. over in the rockies, the concern has been the snow. take a look at denver where the snow plows are out once again. and on i-70 just west of denver, slippery roads causing some accidents out th. in the colorado rockies baseball stadium, we were seeing that covered with snow because of the snowfall that we had in that area tha we are looki

about 48 -- over the next 48 hours an additional 18 to 24 inches of snow. but the concern will be for the highest elevations. this is mainly for t ski resorts. we should see just an additional inch or so in denver. lester? >> dylan, thank you. there's an alarming new warning tonight from about a dramat in teens who use e-cigarettes. among high schoolers the number of students smoking or vaping e-cigarettes tripled in doctors warn that little is known about here's nbc's tom costello. >> reporter: the splashy marketing is designed to lure a younger generation away from traditional cigarettes, but tonight the warning from the cdc is that e-cigarettes contain potentially dangerous chemicals and nicotine that carried their own health risks. >> we don't want to be playing a game of tobacco and nicotine whack-a-mole where we're addressing one type of tobacco product and allowing others >> reporter: but that's what's happening. traditional cigarette use has dropped to

record low among teens, while e-cigarette use has tripled to more than 13% of all teens. 2.5 million people. another 1.5 million smoke hookah pipes. >> i enjoy it more. i think it tastes a lot better. i think the >> reporter: ian king used to smoke a pack day. now he carries bottles of e-cigarette flavo with him. so this is better, you think? >> yeah. i mean you're not -- it's not like with cigarettes where you get tar in your lungs because it's a vape. it's like va >> reporter: the fda hasn't decided to regulate e-cigarette sales to minors but researchers worry that teens may >> the biggest concern is nicotine. nicotine exposure to a developing brain, we don't know the impact it hasn't been studied . >> reporter: the cdc says that the nicotine could lure kids into but the e-cigarette industry tells nbc news the cdc's attack defies log e-cigarettes do not have any tar or any of the chemic in tobacco.

researchers admit they don't yet know all risks and th danger. tom costello, nbc news, washington. turning overseas to iraq where a major city is in danger of falling to thousands have reportedly fled ramadi which lie just 70 miles west of baghdad. the u.s.-led coalition is carrying out air strikes in three villages which militants ov yesterday on the edge of ramadi. an update tonight on the search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370 still ongoing in the southern indian ocean. today malaysian officials said the search area will be expanded by another 23,000 square miles if the plane isn't found in the current search ar malaysia, australia and china are leading the search to find the plane which vanished in march of last year. back in this country tonight, the nfl has reinstated the minnesota vikings adrian the star running back who missed most of last season while facing child abuse charges. the move clears the way for peterson to

return to the league pending he fulfill all the obligations of his plea deal with a true self-made success story play out on wall street today when etsy, the online marketplace where people sell unique and hand-made items, went public. the initial stock price was $16, but that quickly doubled at open. etsy which launched as a small company ten years ago, now has an estimated valuation of over $3 billion. rehema ellis has our report. >> reporter: bill mowat and his wife started their company a-heirloom making cheeseboards in the shape of states and >> there's a bit of nostalgia, and it's a useful it becomes a conversation piece. >> reporter: and the personal t moneymaker. up to $45,000 a month, double that during t holidays. >> it's important that we have a lot of control over the quality of things and what kind of materials are being used. >> reporter: their small business is taking off with the

help of etsy, the online marketplace founded ten years ago caters to artists selling vintage and hand-made arts and crafts. from leg warmers to glass-blown or now with a wide reach. etsy has more than 1.4 million sellers, attracting nearly 20 million buyers with sales close to $2 bill today the company that prides itself on having a majority of its sellers work from home made a big business move and went public. sellers are excited. >> they're hoping that it brings more eyeballs to their site and even wider, more global reach than th had before. >> reporter: fashion designer rubin ruell is like 56% of etsy's sellers. he took his own money to start what is n thriving business. >> in sales i'm pulling in over six figures a year. and i would say that from 2013 to 2014 my

sales did double. >> reporter: the challenge now is the artists who turn etsy into a billion dollar company to hold on to that home-made appeal. rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. elsewhere on wall street today, a great day for etsy, but a down day for the market overall. all three major indexes finished slightly in the red. a lot more news still ahead on a busy thursday evening including the new warning tonigh doctors about the risks of snoring and sleep apne do they contribute to memory loss and possibly even dementia? also a warning that will warm your heart. a brave little boy a a loving father asking for help to wipe away his tears. you won't believe the response they got. tears. you won't ♪ bring your vision for the future to life. for more than 145 years, pacific life has been helping families achieve life-long financial security with innovative tools and strategies. talk to a financial advisor to protect your family and plan today.

pacific life. the power to help you succeed. pacific life proudly presents "humpback whales", a whale-sized movie for giant screen theaters. fact. every time you take advil liqui gels you're taking the pain reliever that works faster on tough pain than extra strength tylenol. and not only faster. stronger too. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil hey buddy, you're squashing me! liquid wart remover? could take weeks to treat. embarrassing wart? dr. scholl's freeze away wipes 'em out fast with as few as one treatment. freeze away! dr. scholl's. the #1 selling freeze brand. new flonase allergy relief nasal spray outperforms a leading allergy pill. most allergy pills only control one

substance, flonase controls six. so go ahead, inhale life. new flonase. six is greater than one. this changes everything. making a fist something we do to show resolve. to defend ourselves. to declare victory. so cvs health provides expert support and vital medicines. make a fist for me. at our infusion centers or in patients homes. we help them fight the good fight. cvs health, because health is everything.

we have some news tonight that you need to hear if you snore or you're one of the long-suffering people who lives with someone who does. new evidence is out showing that snoring and sleep apnea have apparent links to something that scarce us all -- memory loss. nbc's stephanie gosk has more. >> reporter: snoring can be maddening. often more for the people who have to listen to it than the people who actually do . but new research suggests heavy snoring and the more serious condition, sleep apnea, could also have significant health consequences. both reduce oxygen levels to the brain and disrupt sleep. the study, published in the journal

"neurology" medical histories of 2,000 people between the ages of 59 and 90. heavy snorers were diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment about ten years before those who slept well. >> i don't think sleep apnea causes alzheimer's, but our hypothesis that it might accelerate the process. >> reporter: it could be a contributing factor then? >> yes. >> reporter: men more than women. and those numbers only get higher as we get older. but there is treatment. including this breathing machine. >> that air pressure acts as a stent to open up the airway. >> reporter: is that uncomfortable at all? is it difficult to slt depends. people used one in the study delayed mental decline by a decade. researchers say the message to snorers is get help for both the person who sleeps next to you and your brain. stephanie gosk nbc news new york.

up next here tonight, cracking your knuckles. is it really bad for you like your mom used to say? tonight we finally have an answer. also the big "star wars" reveal. han solo chewy, a look at some familiar faces return and some woman: it's been a journey to get where i am. and i didn't get here alone. there were people who listened along the way. people who gave me options. kept me on track. and through it all my retirement never got left behind. so today, i'm prepared for anything we may want tomorrow to be. every someday needs a plan. let's talk about your old 401(k) today. look! this is the new asian inspired broth bowl from panera bread. that noise! panera broth bowls should be slurped with gusto! to explore further order online or visit your neighborhood panera bread. when a moment spontaneously turns romantic

why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. why pause the moment? ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. for a free 30-tablet trial go to cialis.com in small business you have to work

hard, know your numbers, and stay focused. i was determined to create new york city's first self-serve frozen yogurt franchise. and now you have 42 locations. the more i put into my business the more i get out of it. like 5x your rewards when you make select business purchases with your ink plus card from chase. and with ink, i choose how to redeem my points for things like cash or travel. how's the fro-yo? just peachy...literally. ink from chase. so you can.

one of the great mysteries of the human body may have been solved. scientists used an mri to see what happens when we crack our knuckles. they say the popping sound comes from a vacuum or a bubble forming in the giant fluid. and for anybody whose mom ever told them to stop the study found no evidence that cracking your knuckles is harmful. scary moments for the country group lady antebellum whose tour bus caught on fire along the highway in dallas this morning. singer hillary scott posted on social media that the bus blew a tire then the fire sparked forcing a fast evacuation. no one is hurt though. scott was on her way to dallas for this weekend's american

country music awards. the release date feels so far, far away but today the cast of the new "star wars" movie ute yooited on stage complete with androids not among them harrison ford who is said to be doing well after his plane crash last month. but fans did get to see him in the brand new trailer. first official look at ford playing han solo in over 30 years. when we come back a father who asked for help cheering up his son. they never expected a ...and the wolf was huffing and puffing... kind of like you sometimes, grandpa. well, when you have copd it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said.. doctor: symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase

the risk of death from asthma problems. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections osteoporosis, and some eye problems. you should tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. grandfather: symbicort could mean a day with better breathing. watch out, piggies! child giggles doctor: symbicort. breathe better starting within 5 minutes. call or go online to learn more about a free prescription offer. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. doug. you've been staring at that for awhile, huh? listen, td ameritrade has former floor traders to help walk you through that complex trade. so you'll be confident enough to do what you want. i'll pull up their number. blammo. let's get those guys on the horn. oooo looks like it is time to upgrade your phone, douglass. for all the confidence you nee td ameritrade. you got this. my feet felt so heavy at the end of the day. they used to get really tired.

until i started gellin'. i got dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles. when they're in my shoes my feet and legs feel less tired. it's like walking on a wave dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles, i'm a believer! it's just you and your honey. the setting is perfect. but then erectile dysfunction happens again. plenty of guys have this issue not just getting an erection, but keeping it. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing upset stomach and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. ask your doctor if... ...viagra is right for you.

finally tonight, it started with a dad who wanted to help his young son feel better after surgery. neither could guess how many people it would touch. so many coming forward to let this little guy know that scars aren't merely reminders of trauma instead they can be symbols of healing and bravery. here's harry smith. >> reporter: 7-year-old carter gentle was born with a heart defect. he's had a dozen operations because of

it. when he came home from the hospital after the last surgery, his scars made him cry. >> he was upset with the way he looked and how the scars made him feel. he was afraid that people would think he was ugly. >> reporter: so carter's dad mark posted a little message on facebook. >> i asked my friends to give him some likes and some comments just to make him feel better. >> reporter: then what an hour later i looked at the post and it had a thousand likes and that thousand turned into you know 10,000. before we knew it we were at 100,000, and as of right now we're sitting on about 1.4 million likes. >> reporter: likes and messages like these. scars are like a badge of honor! wear them proudly, my friend! you are a superhero! i think you're scars are awesome, just like you. oh and the girls will like your scars when you're older. i promise. and we all have scars.

just some of us have ones that are more visible than others. you are perfect, just the way you are. to help carter understand what was happening online his dad set his phone to ping with every new post. >> he would just look at me with these big eyes. dad dad, i can't believe for me. it was neat. it was really really fun. >> reporter: today was playing outside like a kid without a care in the world. those scars maybe not such a big deal after all, especially with so many people on your side. >> awesome! >> reporter: harry smith, nbc news. >> i think carter's going to be hearing a lot of pings starting right about now. that's going to do it for us on this thursday night. i'm lester holt. for all of us at nbc news, thank you for wa

lights, camera, access. i had been sober for three years. >> slurred speech. cursing. hiding out in a bathroom. i'm billy bush